Mangalore: Workshop Views Translation as Need of the Hour
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (mb)
Mangalore, Jan 20: For the development of any language and for its flavour to widely and beneficially reach the speakers of other languages, translation of literary works into various languages is certainly today's necessity. This was the message driven home by a workshop on translation, jointly organized by the Institute of Konkani, St Aloysius College and the Konkani Writers' Forum - Karnataka in the St Aloysius College audio-visual auditorium on Sunday, January 20 morning.
The day-long workshop, intended at spreading awareness about the importance of translation of Konkani, Kannada and English literary works into one another, was inaugurated by college principal Fr Swebert D'Silva SJ by depressing the push-button for the power-point presentation. The keynote address was delivered by author-novelist-columnist Edwin J F D'Souza.
D'Souza dwelt upon various aspects of translation work, like how imaginative thinking can do wonders, looking at literature from the angle of language and its potential, how to avoid ambiguity, handling of short stories and novels and also the technicalities involved.
The main part of the workshop was moderated by Forum president Dr Edward Nazareth.
The workshop also dealt with the scope and needs of translation work, whether the original flavour and form to be retained as against adaptation of the original work. The need of proficiency in and command over both source and target languages was also stressed. A general affinity towards all languages was also vital in translation work, it was pointed out.
Translation was not limited to stories and novels alone. Folklore, sayings, thoughts of wisdom, poems, autobiography etc. also could be part of translation. An analytical study of principles involved in translation like purpose, age and other categories of readership, a keen sense of language and culture and similar subjects also were also incorporated in the proceedings.
Over 50 participants have enthusiastically taken part in the workshop, with many of them involving themselves in the interaction with the speakers.
A certificate of participation is being issued to everyone who took part in the workshop, it was announced.